a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Game 58 – Five Steps Forward, One More Step Forward

Ronnie B was, to me, the hero of the game and I wanted to post a picture of him, but there weren’t any good ones to be found. AK and KK are a good second choice. More on that later…

So “@” + “Peskysota” = Test Game. It was a test that the Jazz almost failed. They didn’t start to pull away for real until 4:30 in the 4th. Like I said at the top of the post, it was all about Ronnie B (+/- of +13) in the 4th. He scored 16 points in the final quarter and was a perfect 4/4 from the floor and 8/8 from the line. Brew Brew had 2 steals and 2 blocks to boot…

…and Jerry deserves the credit. “In the first half, I was just trying to let the game come to me,” said Brewer. “I only took one shot. But the second half I started on the defensive end, got a couple steals, got to the basket, started cutting hard. That’s just what Coach told me to do. … It got me going.”

The Peskies were, well, pesky, and Kevin Love in particular made the Jazz look like chumps for most of the first half. Love had a DD by halftime and was the lone Wolf with a non-negative +/-: a nice round 0.

I wasn’t impressed with Boozer (one of only two Jazz players with a negative +/-, the other being CJ), as he had more TOs than assists and more fouls than boards, but I’ll leave that alone since he just came back from injury blah blah.

Having had the privilege of watching four of the last five games, I can say that AK + KK = success. AK (+19) continues to make everyone around him so much better, and KK (+33!!!!) has really stepped up his game lately. He’s not only hitting more of his shots, but playing good D and averaging about 6 RPG this month, which is twice his season average of 3 RPG. For whatever reason(s), AK and KK are just a good combination and play great together.

No game on right now and no games for two days, so NO JINX. AK’s stroke has been on since he’s been back. In the post-game when Hot Rod asked him about it, he thanked Horny and said that he’s “not shy to take [mid-range Js].”

Let’s take a look. This is how AK was doing through the first 42 games of the season:

His last 10 games:

And finally, the last 5 (he’s been back exactly 5 games):

Hot Rod also asked AK if he’s happy with the way he’s playing, and AK said that things are good [since the sit-down with Jerry prior to last season] and that he appreciates his role coming off the bench. Looks like AK’s healthy and in a good place emotionally and mentally, and it’s showing in his game.

Someone had to be out, just because:
Harp was suffering from a sore back stemming from the Flagrant-2 and sat this one out.

LOL Quote of the Day:

As part of the Jazz’s pregame meeting, Jarron Collins had to offer the scouting report on his twin brother, Jason. Although he hadn’t played for a stretch of 31 games, Jason has seen action in four of Minnesota’s last five games, playing five minutes Wednesday.

“A Good Idea”:
A lot of suggestions have been thrown around in recent days about how LHM should be honored. I like this one published on sltrib’s Jazz blog:

[Wade Schillo in Sandy] suggests the Jazz honor Miller by lowering the official seating capacity of EnergySolutions Arena from 19,911 to 19,910…It is a low-key, unpretentious way of permanently honoring Miller, who always considered himself an owner/fan, not just an owner.

Two more test games coming up:
— vs. SAC on Saturday just a few hours after LHM’s funeral; and
— @ GS on Sunday. @ + second of a back-to-back + against a sucky team = Jazz recipe for disaster. Can you say “trap”?